Means for mounting electric condensers or other articles on support plates



Feb. 19, 1946. w. c. HANDLEY ET'AL 2,395,326

MEANS FOR MOUNTING ELECTRIC CONDENSERS OR OTHER ARTICLES ON SUPPORT PLATES Filed Dec. 18, 1942 ain;

Patented Feb. 19, 1946 MEANS FOR MOUNTING ELECTRIC CON- DENSERS OR OTHER ARTICLES ON SUP- PORT PLATES William Cecil Handley, .Frodsham, Joshua Creer Quayle, Manley, Helsby, via Warrington, and Eric George McLeod, Helsby, via Warrington, England, assignors to British Insulated Cables Limited, Prescot, Lancashire, England, a British company Application December 18, 1942, Serial No. 469,500 In Great Britain May 2, 1942 1 Claim.

This invention relates to the mounting of articles on a support plate and is particularly but by no means exclusively applicable to the mounting of metal canisters, for instance, cans containing electric condensers. In the specification of application Serial No. 462,034, of W. C. Handley and J. C. Quayle, filed October 14, 1942, now Patent No. 2,354,015, there is described a mounting ring for securing an article to a support plate. That mounting ring embraces the article and is adapted to engage a circumferential bead (or equivalent projection) on the article on the side of the bead remote from the support plate and has a number of lugs adapted to be passed through correspondingly positioned and shaped apertures in the support plate to provide projecting portions which may be deformed, for instance by upsetting, bending or twisting, in order to anchor the ring to the support plate.

By the present invention we provide an improved form of mounting ring which is more satisfactory in cases where the article and its support plate are likely to be subjected to severe mechanical vibration. In accordance with our invention the engagement between the ring and the circumferential bead (or equivalent projection) on the article is a resilient one obtained by providing the ring with a number of inwardly projecting lugs which, or at least the free ends of which, are rolled over to form resilient beads, which are adapted to engage the circumferential bead or the like on the article on the side remote from the support plate. Preferably these beaded lugs are so located that when the ring is placed in position on the article, they are deformed elastically to grip the article sufiiciently to prevent accidental displacement of the ring before the article is mounted on a support plate. These lugs, being of rounded form, do not bite into the wall of the article and so destroy the resilient engagement between the ring and the article.

The invention will now be more fully described with the aid of the accompanying drawing which, by way of example, illustrates the manufacture and use of a form of mounting ring designed for anchoring cylindrical electrical condenser cans to a support subject to vibration. In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a plan of the mounting ring at a stage in the manufacture thereof,

Figure 2 is an elevation, partly in section, of the completed mounting ring,

Figure 3 is an elevation, partly in section, showing a condenser can secured to its support plate by a ring of the form shown in Figure 2,

Figure 4 is an elevation of a tool designed to engage the anchoring lugs of the mounting ring shown in Figure 2, for the purpose of twisting them,

Figure 5 is a cross-section taken on the line VV of Figure 4 of the tool shown therein, and

Figure 6 is a plan of the support plate shown in Figure 3, and

Figure '7 is an elevation, partly in section, of a split mounting ring.

The ring shown in Figures 2 and 3 is made from a stamping I of sheet metal, for instance, cadmium plated mild steel, of the form shown in Figure 1. The general shape of this is circular with a number of tongues 2 extending radially outwards from its external edge to form anchoring lugs to secure the ring to the support plate and with a number of short lugs 5 projecting inwardly from its internal edge. The number of these lugs shown is six, but more or less may be provided. They are distributed uniformly around the annulus and each preferably decreases in width as the tip of the lug is approached, so as to leave between each two ad- J'acent lugs a more or less semi-circular recess, as shown. The stamping is converted into the resilient mounting ring shown in Figure 2 by cupping the outer part to provide a circumferential portion 3 with anchoring lugs constituted by the tongues 2 which then extend from its rim parallel to the axis of the cylindrical portion and an inwardly extending flange portion 4 with inwardly extending lugs 5. During or after the cupping operation the inwardly extending lugs 5 are rolled over so as to lie on the same side of the flange portion as the circumferential portion. As will be seen most clearly in Figure 2, they are rolled downwards, i. e., in the direction of the anchoring lugs 2, and outwards from the interior of the ring to form semi-circular beads. Alternatively, the lugs 5 may be rolled in the opposite direction each to form a short channel of semicircular cross-section with a centre of curvature lying in or near a plane containing the flange portion 4 of the ring. The former shape of bead, however, is preferred as it results in a smaller ring for a given size of article. To keep the size of ring at a minimum it is also preferable to bend the whole of the lugs 5, as shown, rather than an outer portion only.

The way in which the ring shown in Figure 2 is used to mount the condenser can on a support plate is shown in Figure 3. The can 6, which is cylindrical and of circular cross-section, is formed with a collar 1 at the end adjacent the apertured support plate 8. The mounting ring I embraces the can and is located with the semicircular beads on its inwardly directed flange l engaging the end face of the collar 1 that lies remote from the support plate 8 and with the anchoring lugs 2 passing through correspondingly shaped and correspondingly positioned apertures 9 in the support plate. The internal diameter of the ring I is preferably such that the beads also resiliently engage the cylindrical wall of the can as well as the end face of the collar I so that the can may be fitted with its ring without risk that the ring will become accidentally detached and lost before the can is mounted.

It will be observed that the anchoring lugs 2 are long and provided with narrow slots I0 extending lengthwise of the lugs, The purpose of these slots is to facilitate the operation of anchoring the mounting ring to the support plate 8, With anchoring lugs of this form, when the article and its mounting ring are positioned on the support plate 8 with the anchoring lugs .extending through the correspondingly shaped and positioned slots 9, the lugs can be positively enaged, pulled down and twisted through an angle of about 90 or more by means of the simple hand tool shown in Figures 4 and 5. This tool, as will be seen, consists of a rod II with a handle l2 on one end and having on the other .end a laterally projecting blade l3 adapted to enter the slot in in an anchoring lug. The blade has a projection [4 adapted to engage the back of the lug and prevent accidental dis-engagement of the tool and the lug.

The nature of the support plate will naturally depend upon the nature of the article to be mounted and the use to which it is to be put. It may be of metal or of other material and it may be a relatively large structural member or a small plate which is itself secured to a larger plate or other member. In the latter case, and if of insulating material, it ma provide a simple means of insulating the article from a metal chassis or the like. The support plate 8 of the assembly shown in Figure 3 is shown in plan in Figure 6 in position on a chassis plate to which it may be secured by bolts or rivets to which end the annular support plate is formed with two or more ears it around its periphery having bolt or rivet holes l1. As will be seen from Figure 3, the chassis plate 15 is apertured to an extent to provide adequate clearance between it and the anchoring lugs 2. This clearance may be increased locally where it is necessary .to insulate the mounting ring from the chassis plate.

The use of our resilient external mounting ring to secure a condenser can to its support plate has the practical advantage that it leaves the whole area of the end wall of the condenser can clear and unobstructed by the support plate and the anchoring lugs. This advantage assumes considerable importance in the case of cans of small diameter, for instance, of 0.75 inch diameter, where the area of end wall available for the mounting of terminals is correspondingly limited, and in all cases results in the clearance between the support plate 8 and the terminals i8 (Figure 3) passing through the opening 9 in the plate being a maximum for a given diameter of can,

Whilst it is advantageous to employ our resilient form of mounting ring in all cases where the ring and its support are likely to be subjected to severe mechanical vibration, it is particularly advantageous to do so in the case of rings intended to be anchored to their support plates by twisted anchoring lugs of rectilinear crosssection. The resilient lugs engaging the circumferential bead or collar on the article take up the lcoseness that would otherwise result when the plate is caused by severe vibration to bite into the anchoring lugs, and so prevent the production of impact forces between the engaging parts of the .ring and support plate, which forces would rapidly result in further damage and in the eventual destruction of the anchorage.

Although the metal mounting ring, described with reference to and shown in the drawing, is of circular form, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to rings of such form and that the shape of the ring will, in general, correspond with the cross-sectional form of the adjacent part of the article to be mounted. Nor is the application of the invention restricted to mounting rings of continuous form. It may just as readily be applied to split mounting rings, that is, rings that are cut through at one point in their circumference, as shown for example in Figure '1, so that they may be sprung open to allow the resilient beads to slip into position over the circumferential bead or collar on a condenser can or other article in cases where the diameter of the end having the bead or collar is less than the maximum diameter of the article. It may also be applied to rings built up of two or more segments which can be assembled round the positioned article. Accordingly, where the context so permits, the term ring in the specification and in the claims is to be construed to include split rings and rings built up of two or more segments as well as rings that are circumferentially continuous.

What we claim as our invention is:

A mounting ring for securing a metal canister or other article to a support plate, comprising a circumferential portion, anchoring lugs depending from one edge of said portion, a flange portion extending inwardly from the other edge of said circumferential portion, and a pluralit of lugs projecting from the inner edge of said flange portion, each being curved in the direction of its length for at least a part of its length to form a resilient bead for engaging a circumferentially extending projection on the article to be secured,

WILLIAM CECIL HANDLEY. JOSHUA CREER QUAYLE. ERIC GEORGE McLEOD. 

